Laws of Motion
by Gabriella Adella
Summary: A memorial for Wally West, the sidekick who defined hero.


_To Wally West: a hero to the end. R.I.P. Run in Peace._

_I do not own, if I did the fans would not be crying now in memory of one of my favorite heroes. _

A speedster is a person who runs, fast. They aren't just in motion, they are motion. Movement and energy itself on a level that most won't understand. Their brains function at a level higher and faster than most others. Wally wasn't fast enough.

He was motion till the end. He loved science, running, his family, and Artemis. Those four things were the core of his life. His existence as energy always moving, always vibrating, was centered around those four things. The combination of them all defined his personality and him as a person.

_An object at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force._

That was Robin. The spunky little kid he met at first he never would have imagined to be what he discovered. Years of observation and interaction revealed the little bird inside.

The little boy who cried at night. Nightmares lurked in every shadow. His demons never left him alone. Shadows of guilt and ghosts of the past haunted his very existence. He was at a standstill. He didn't know what to do or where to go. His every move was doubted. He was cautious and afraid. Some days misunderstood too.

Wally ran into his life. He grabbed Robin by the wrist and pulled him along behind him. Robin found his path next to Wally. Dick ran side by side with him for years. Late night patrols that involved large amounts of caffeine. All night slumber parties filled with games and pranks and sugar. Jokes and teasing that lead to laughter.

And nights with screaming. Ghosts that Wally taught Dick to out run. To move past. Dick wouldn't have moved past on his own. Bruce and Alfred helped, but Wally's role in dragging Dick past was unmistakable It built up more and more. They were the originals. They were the Team before the Team even had a name. They made memories and filled them with irreplaceable laughter. Wally and Dick ran side by side until the very end. Failsafe wasn't even a strong enough force to slow Dick down with Wally at his side. Wally was the motion that pulled Dick past all the bad and replaced it with the good that shaped him into the hero he became.

_An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force._

Roy liked to run fast too. He was called Speedy for a reason. Things had to be prompt and exciting. Roy ran a little too fast though. He was the Team too, but he ran right past it. Wally didn't like to run alone, there were countless phone calls and visits to Roy's. An in numeral amount of attempts to make Roy stop and wait up for his brothers who still ran side by side.

Red Arrow resisted for as long as he could but Wally was unstoppable. He was motion. He pulled Roy back to them. The Team was reunited again and together they did what they did best. The kicked butt. They ran circles around villains and made memories that someday would be more precious than they'd ever imagine.

Roy ran on Wally's other side once again, they ran at the same speed. His life took a different path though. Even when they were apart Roy still ran at Wally's side. Distance does not matter to motion itself. Wally could be at Roy's side in seconds. They ran at the same speed though, and that was important.

_Force equals mass times acceleration._

Wally was defined by his family and friends. It was that simple. All of his souvenirs that he collected. The friends he grew to knew. They were what defined Wally. His experiences and emotions where what blended together to equal him. From the great success of saving little Queen Perdita to the failure that was Failsafe. From his little kid brother yelling about his asterousness to Black Canary telling him to focus.

Movie nights and burnt cookies before missions. Arguments with Artemis that in hindsight seemed so stupid and yet so worth it. Those days in Central City with Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris. Returning home to his mom and dad, going to see his 'uncles' Bruce and Oliver. Grandpa Alfred too, they were a close knit family of heroes.

An extraordinary combination of people who valued truth, justice, loyalty, and protecting the innocent above all else. There were nights when there were vigils over injured family members. Tears shed of sadness and happiness. They never lost a single member of that little original family.

Wally and Roy were there to help Dick with Jason's death. And then Tula's death for Kaldur. Wally missed them, maybe cried a little too but it wasn't totally devastating. Their plot to bring down the Light was a tough time. Roy still crazed about finding Speedy and Robin now Nightwing running the team.

Wally hadn't left them, he still ran with them. But like Roy his life led him to another path. He would always be there if the Team needed him, they were family after all. They were an essential part of him. Wally equals family times friends.

_For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction._

The force that was Artemis had such a reaction with the motion that was Wally that there was only one possible outcome. Love. This was a love he'd never felt before and would never feel again. Only the combination of that blond archer and redheaded speedster could leave to the reaction that was their love.

Artemis was a part of his life Wally never saw coming. He used to think she was an untied shoe lace. Annoying him, trying to inhibit his running. She didn't understand the freedom of it. That Wally was just being himself, he was being motion.

Wally tried to run his own way. Artemis reached out, grabbing him by the arm, and ran with him. It was hard to deny once he realized the girl he'd always imagined at his side wasn't the pretty Martian. Artemis was a force all her own. She was powerful, courageous, and she knew how to run fast.

Wally adjusted to her as she adjusted to him. And one night on the Watch Tower they fell into a perfect synch. Their legs were tied together and they were destined to run a three legged race for the rest of their lives. They never tripped and came to a stop. There were days he stumbled, especially when he had to watch her get on Manta's ship. She still ran at his side though, he just couldn't see her. The ribbon was still around her leg. Its hard to run a three legged race with someone you can't see but its possible.

He got her back. Once again they ran together. Their hearts beat as once, they breathed as once, and their legs hit the ground so perfectly together that they'd never stumble in their run again. If only they knew how close the finish line was.

These were Wally's Laws of Motion. Made by those held in his heart and used to define his life. Until the very end. His family taught him what a hero really was. They were brave and courageous, they faced it head on. A hero never gave him, never stopped. They were someone who sped up when they saw the finish line.

Wally saw his finish line. Uncle Barry and Bart needed him. He slipped his foot out of the ribbon that tied him and Artemis together. He left it with her as a reminder. He ran faster than he ever had before, he had a finish line to cross. He caught up to them and didn't slow. He still wasn't fast enough. He ran harder than every more and he crossed the finish line as fast as he could. It was over so suddenly he never had time to slow down.

_For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction._

He died, she cried. There was sadness. There was a hole torn right through the hearts of their hero family. He was the first casualty of the originals. He was a hero to the definition. He gave his life for others. It would hurt until they joined him on the other side of the finish line. Wally's death caused sadness, tears, and above all else pride of a sidekick who defined the word hero.

_Force equals mass times acceleration._

The equation works both ways. Wally equals friends times family. Family equals friends times Wally. Friends equal family times Wally. Each person Wally ever came in contact with felt the loss of him their equation of life. With one of the factors their life would never be the same.

_An objection in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force._

The death of Wally was enough to shock them all into coming to a halt. A stop. Everyone's lives came to a stand still and without Wally they lacked the motion to move again.

Artemis tripped over the empty ribbon of love left behind. You can't run a three legged race alone.

Mary and Rudy West along with Joan and Jay Garrick gave up on running, without Wally it seemed worthless.

Bart and Barry were shocked into a stop when they saw his bright yellow costume and red hair get hit with that line of blue and fade into nothing.

Artemis's discovery hit Nightwing full in the face and he fell. He didn't have the will to get back up.

_An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force._

It was the memories of Wally spurred them into motion. Laughter, pranks, slumber parties, terrible jokes, and the sheer immaturity of KF when the Team first formed.

It wasn't enough.

None of them would ever know but a force reached out to all of them.

It was motion itself.

It was the spirit of a hero that returned to grab them all by the hand once more and pull them after him.

_Longer dedication: To Wally West. The Kid Flash that my little sister and I watched from the very beginning You made us laugh and today, cry. We waited months for new episodes and then months for the new season. Thank you for not changing too much, you were perfect the way you were._

_Run in Peace_


End file.
